`Chiefs are pillars of development`

THE newly installed chief of Apremdo, one of the indigenous Ahanta communities in Effia kwesimintsim, Nana Egya Kwamena(II), has asked the Western Regional Minister, Anthony Evans Amoah, and also the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) chairman to provide the community with security for them to celebrate this year's Kundum Festival, one of the traditional festivals of the Ahanta community.

The chief and his elders made the appeal last Tuesday, when they paid a courtesy call on the Minister at his residence at Sekondi. According to the chief, the community has planned to embark on a number of development projects and it is commencing with an education endowment fund, which would be launched during the celebration of the festival.

The fund, according to the chief would support needy but brilliant students in the Ahanta community. Nana Egya Kwamena II, to this end has appealed to government to come to the aid of the community. The Apremdo community, which has suffered dislocation through chieftaincy and land disputes, has since returned to normalcy. Peace and tranquility, which had eluded the community is also beginning to take shape.

Mr. A.E. Amoah, on his part assured the chief and his elders about government's support to their cause, and warned against any activity that would cause disturbance in the community. He said the peace that the country is enjoying currently is as result of the total support and corporation that government is receiving from the citizenry.

Chiefs, he stressed, were the development pillars that government could use to preach peace in order to transform the country. “The agenda for the nation must be the concern of all traditional rulers, because their role is very crucial, and we cannot develop as a country without peace”.

He therefore cautioned against abusive language during, before and after the general elections, since according to him, any smoldering tension could escalate as a result of abusive comments against one another in the heat of the election. Should any thing like this happen, he said it is the traditional rulers who would suffer the most, since the elites would escape to foreign destinations, leaving the chiefs and their communities behind, to leave in misery and poverty. “Peace is important for all of us if we want to develop as a country,” Mr. Amoah pointed out.

Turning his attention on the elders of Apremdo, he appealed to them to give the chief good advice, support his development course to ensure total transformation of the under-developed Apremdo community. “Give the chief good advice, it is your good advice that can guarantee the transformational leadership that you are looking for, he cannot work effectively without your support,” he counseled the Apremdo elders.

He urged the elders and the Apremdo community to give the new chief the maximum cooperation to lead and to unite the entire community, and rally behind Egya Kwamina II.

The chief and his elders paid a similar visit to the Kwesimintsim District Police Commander, Mr. Magnus Reindorf Sam and informed him of the intention to celebrate the Kundum festival.

Similarly, the chief and his elders last month paid a courtesy call on the Metro Chief Executive, Mr. Philip Kwesi Nkrumah who also assured them of his support.

Meanwhile, the spokes person of the community, Mr. Nat Panyin has indicated that the Apremdo community was ready to take off in transformational development. “We now have a chief who has vision, he thinks about the community, ready to take it to another level, so we will support him at all cost,” Mr. Panyin averred.